What a day!

We were invited to a birthday party this morning at Kildonan Park.
So I packed up the kids, and we arrived at the park.

I hadn't even got the kids out of the car yet and here is the drama that ensued.

I took Isabella (one) out of the car and said, "stay close to mommy, and DON'T jump in the puddle. I just have to get your sister out of the car".

As I opened the car door to get Rebecca out, the first thing Isabella does is take a huge jump into (what she thought) was a big puddle. It turns out the big puddle is actually a big pothole that is a foot deep and she is completely immersed. Having lost her balance while falling in. So now she is soaking wet and covered in mud.

She starts screaming for mommy. So I run to pull her out of the muddy hole, but I had already opened Rebecca's door. A SWARM of mosquitos (who were probably breeding in the puddle that Bella disturbed) have come into the car and are attacking her. So Rebecca is now also screaming blue murder.

Eventually, I got them both calmed down. I gave Isabella a sponge bath with baby wipes, and luckily I had another outfit in the car but not extra shoes. So we played at the park, doused in mosquito spray and she ran around barefoot.

It was definitely an adventure, but not one I'd like to repeat.
If they don't do something about the mosquito population at Kildonan Park, I shant be hanging out there this summer.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the beach.
That was great.
We're off again, this time we'll stay all day!
Yee-hah!
I LOVE SUMMER!!!!

I just got back from our 4th scheduled volleyball game for women's 4s.
Let's re-cap the scores shall we?

Week one - game cancelled....courts flooded due to excess rain.
Week two - played one game- we won- not that it matters. :)
Week three - game cancelled....freak lightening storm
Week four - the other team didn't show up tonight, no game...

So in four weeks, we've had ONE game.
Yikes.

With all the re-scheduled games we'll have to play, we'll be playing into November!

This is getting crazy.
Winnipeg is not the most reliable place to have a beach volleyball league. But tonight the weather was beautiful so we just hung out and played against each other. That was fun.

Perhaps I should be proud or very worried about my children's level of intelligence. When your children start to outsmart you at the ages of 1 and 3, it is either a sign of their genius or a serious lack of intelligence on my part.

This morning I was trying to clean and Isabella kept hanging on me. Usually I say, "Okay, see you later." And she says, "Okay bye" and runs away for a few minutes so I can get something done.

I tried it this morning, "Okay see you later Bella" and she replied, "I naw go in annie wur."
SO that trick is no good anymore.

Then tonight after supper, we were in the car and D.J. was telling the girls it was time to go to bed when we got home.
Rebecca piped up, "I tell you a deal. I watch Arthur and then go to bed. Okay?"

Now she's using the same "deal" stuff we use on her. They are starting to negotiate. Very scary.

How did they get so big, so fast?

This summer has been so slow in coming I never felt like doing spring cleaning this year. More like mid-winter tidying happened instead. So now mid-June I'm starting my spring cleaning.

But there is hope, next week is supposed to be above 30 all week. Let's see if this is just a carrot hanging in front of us to keep us all from moving away or if it'll really happen.

Spring fling, here I come.

In response to Yvonne's challenge, I'm trying the Stream of Consciousness Exercise....here goes.....

therapeutic energy going to amass greatly in the five minutes my life is so short, youth fades too fast and the kids are now different too different a big gap, fear sets in to an irrelevant church that has no meaning to a mean generation so cruel, hard on each other hating, hating, hating authority, how can this have happened, does the pendulum need to swing back, will my babies be okay with all the mean kids, no parents, jobs jobs jobs working all the time have to make money leave the kids to care for themselves nobody to watch over them and become these angry people with mean spirits nazis, nazis took the youth, these youth these same youth today with hard hearts no conscience, no parents no loyalty, god protect from these energetic hands with hard hearts, drugs and more drugs whatever feels good nothing is bad, nbothing is wrong, as long as you don't get caught, there is no relevance to morality, sunday school stories are a joke , do you believe in the Bible, why? prove it to me nobody loves me, you don't love me, stop saying that, it can't be true

Whoa! That went pretty fast. It wasn't five minutes but I had to stop because the phone rang and I had to answer it.

Wow! That surprises me, its pretty dark. But that could be because I just got in from work. And the weight from working with the teens usually stays with me for a few hours after work. I love them so much, and to love them is to carry a heavy weight. It is a frightening lost generation but they are chosen of God so there is so much trying to stop them from ever caring about anything.

I wish I had the ability to light a fire of passion in the hearts of people my age to work with youth. Somehow to make how I feel about them contagious. They are the most lost people I've ever met and searching so desperately for love, so easy to love.

Anyway, that was a great exercise, I don't think I even realized how passionate I am about this subject and how dark it is. No wonder I get so overwhelmed sometimes. I probably should.

Phew!
What a busy day.

We left for the airport at 7:30 am to drop my mom off.
(Now every plane Rebecca sees has Grandma on it)

After playing for awhile at the playstructure, we went up to the observation deck. I'd never been up there. Rebecca was excited and wanted to go on a plane.

We shopped for awhile then headed off to surprise daddy at work. The kids got to see his co-workers and they got to ooh and aaah over how cute the girls are.

Next, we shopped again, then met daddy for lunch at this fancy joint. Its called Mc-something. What a great place, they even built an indoor fun land and its reasonably priced. I think its gonna catch on.

That was a great morning, followed by long naps.
An ideal day, for any stay at home mom. :)

So the new mayor of Winnipeg is Sam Katz!

That's different!
I'm wondering how many people voted for him because he used the words, "I'm not a politician."

I think people are tired of politicians.
That's why I voted for him.

We'll see what a non-politician can do for our city.
If he can get rid of the mosquitoes, he can stay in office forever as far as I'm concerned.

ps I watched the coverage of the mayoral race on Global last night. (I don't have cable) Man, that was embarassing. Our local reporters are HORRIBLE! Can we not find anyone in the city who can put together a sentence without stammering or rambling on??? Yikes! That was bad.

More of cute Rebecca from the afternoon:

We're at Wal-Mart and Rebecca is telling me something about her dad, I have no idea what she's talking about. So I asked a question, silly me. Here's how it went....

R: And then a big truck for a ride and my daddy fixed it, right mom?
E: I don't understand. What are you talking about?
R: You know, don't you remember D.J.???

Ha! Ha! Ha! She assumed I didn't know who "daddy" was. She is so funny.

She was being so sweet and charming that I took them for a treat to McDonald's. (God bless Wal-Mart for putting them right in)
She kept sharing with her sister and offering to help her out.
I was so touched, I said, "Rebecca, you're adorable."
And she repied, "Yeah, and my hair is adorable too".

Kids. Totally innocently repeat whatever they hear. I love my girls so much. They are a great reason to get up every morning.

That, and to stop them yelling from their beds. That's also a good reason to get up!

This morning I took the girls swimming.
What a hoot!

While I watching Isabella and keeping her from jumping into water that is over her head, Rebecca started to watch the aquafit class that was going on.

The class was facing the kid's pool where she was imitating the actions of the instructor. It was so funny. The class of little old ladies was in stitches trying to pay attention while they were laughing at my daughter.

She actually was quite good. She even did the stretching. And when they did the quad stretch, she announced "We're stretching our bums!" (More laughter from the ladies)

She was quite the entertainer today. I'm sure the old ladies will have something to talk about at Wednesday night bridge.

On Friday evening my grandpa got to go home to Jesus. It was a happy thing because its what he's wanted for awhile, and it took a while for his body to agree with his spirit.

Often when someone dies, those left behind are left in mourning with regrets, or the pain of loss.

But I'm really blessed because I'm feeling neither of those things. He was a good grandpa, he was kind and really enjoyed the company of his grandchildren. Its always nice to be enjoyed as a child.

My memories of him hold no regrets. I remember him hiding our desserts under the kitchen table. He would sneak up behind us and tip our chairs back while he made a big POP sound to give us a scare. He would show us his stamp collection. I remember eating watermelon and rol kuchen on his front stoop.

I remember all the laughs our family has had at the expense of his driving methods. I remember my cousin and I being late for day camp because he drove over a huge curb and blew a tire. Or my younger cousins praying that Jesus save them while he drove through the mountains. He drove like a maniac but that never bothered him. *chuckle*

To me he's still this tall, gentle man who loved to talk about Jesus, to everyone. As a teenager, granted this could be embarassing but I got over it. I'm glad it wasn't something he got over. He might have annoyed alot of people, but we'll never know how many questioned and searched because my grandpa wasn't afraid to talk about the God he loved so much.

I have no sense of loss because my grandpa was a man who spent his life doing his best to live for God. Now he finally (as he put it)gets to go home and see the God he longed to serve.

I wonder if it'll be awesome for him to see Jesus, and hear the words "well done good and faithful servant". I wonder if he'll have tears of joy. I wonder if his heart will be overwhelmed with knowing the love of a father like he never knew on earth.
I'll bet he'll run to the cross first. And I'll bet he'll harass all the great evangelists throughout history, wanting to talk with them and learn from them, and spend time talking about how important salvation is. He'll have so much in common with so many people.

So I'm not mourning, I'm happy for him and thankful that I got to have such a great grandfather in my life.
I'm a lucky girl.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY ALL YOU DADS!

This morning, my girls each gave their dad a card they made for him and attempted to say Happy Father's Day.

Rebecca got it right but Isabella ended up saying, "Happy Mother Daddy" which was cute anyway.

I'd like to take a moment to salute my dad on this special day.
As a tribute to Art Buhler, I'll say I love you in his own special language....

"Pull my finger, *fart*, What is wrong with the Lakers this season, are they deaf, dumb and blind?, Put a sweater on its cold out there, You better get some bug spray on, those mosquitos will eat you alive, *belch* Ha! Ha! Ha!, Hey, Erica, I gotta a joke for you."

.....in other words, I love you!

Anytime a mother hears the words "Look mom I painted my nails" out of the mouth of a three year old, her heart skips a beat!

All I saw was blue all over her hands, nails, clothes etc.

Oh crap!

Turns out it was just blue face paint stuff which comes off fairly easily, but it could have been a lot worse.
Phew!

That's what I get for putting on a video while I do paperwork for my job. Supervision is the key to a clean house!

So I got a job offer yesterday.
Rock on!

Its not for sure yet, so its all hush-hush and on the q.t. and that jazz but what I can say is, I'm very excited.

Its so up my alley.
Its so moi, and very made-to-order.
In short, a total God-thing.

Hooray!

Lately Rebecca has been talking baby-talk alot, and we keep telling her how glad we are that she's our BIG girl and not a baby to discourage this behaviour.

So this is my conversation with her tonight at bedtime.

E: You know it would be great if you used your big girl words instead.... (Becca cuts me off)

R: I know, not baby talk but owny big girl talk is better.

E: That's right, and I'm glad you're my big girl.

R: But mom, baby talk is wunnerful. Maybe you should try it. You might like it.

Ha! Ha! Ha! I laughed so hard, how do I argue with that?

This morning I feel so blessed to have my wonderful daughters.
I'm feeling so much better but still not 100% so I just sat on the kitchen floor with some worship music on.

Both my beautiful daughters came into the kitchen and saw me. Rebecca asked, "Can I worshipping too?". And Bella said, "Me too!"

So they sat with me on the kitchen floor and the three of us cuddled up together while we rocked and listened to Misty Edward's CD. They can be so loving and kind and gentle.

My life is so much better,and deeper for having them. Harder but better. So much better...

Ugh! Started feeling under the weather yesterday.
Now I feel downright sick.
Yuck! Stupid head cold. Go away!

Its almost naptime then I can go back to bed.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:



That's me with my birthday cake. The only down side to having a surprise party is that you're the only one there who's NOT wearing any make up.

We took the kids on a boat ride...

Here we're heading out to sea...

Hey I'm 28 years old today! Hooray for me!!!!

We got back from the lake today, my husband threw me a surprise party for me at the cabin. We had friends and family come out and celebrate my 28ness. It was lots of fun.

Thanks friends and family!!!! I had fun!!!!

On the way home from the cabin, Rebecca asked me, "Mom can I be brown when I'm older?" hee hee hee
Isn't that cute?

I've had a contemplative blog this week so now its time for....
da da na...

Erica's shallow thought of the week:

People always say that women have it harder than men because the expectation of beauty is so much more stringent for us. eg. If we're not thin and perfectly made up, we get judged but a guy can be 20 lbs overweight and never comb his hair and no one says anything. He still gets the digits, ya hear me dog?
(btw, I worked last night)

But I think its actually harder for men. WHAAAAAAA????

Hear me on this, if you're a woman and short, fat and ugly.... We have heels, make-up and specially designed clothes (yeah lycra) to make us look 10 lbs lighter.

But if you're a guy who's short, fat and ugly...you're on your own. Unless you want to live in drag, you are what you are. No help.

Yes, I think women have it much easier.

WARNING: This blog is meant to offend so any comments stating the nature of offenses inflicted would be a superluous waste of your time.

This morning while I washed my kitchen floor, I was contemplating the connection between pride and judgement.

When I saw the floor this morning, I felt awful and I thought "this floor is horrible, I must wash it immediately."

I must or what? Or I am a failure?(perhaps) Or the house cleaning police will come and take my children away? Why am I judging myself based on whether or not I could eat off my kitchen floor.

Anyway, I gave into my "need" to have a sparkling floor and washed it. Then I felt exilarated. I stood there looking at it with a warm fuzzy feeling. Could it be PRIDE???

Suddenly, I was a good person again. A success!

Then I thought, "well that's warped thinking".

So are the areas of pride for us, they area where we judge ourselves the most harshly? Are we judging others by the same standard we hold up against ourselves? Is that fair?

Most often the standards people hold for themselves (me included) are so much more harsh than their expectations for others. Why is it so hard to grace for ourselves?

Eg. I don't think people who can't play volleyball suck. But even when I'm having a great game and I make a mistake, I say "I'm sorry guys, that sucked". I would NEVER say that to someone else who messed up.

This is erroneous thinking on my part. I will think on it some more and ask God to help me correct this pattern.
If He thinks I'm worthy of grace, maybe I should too.

Why is it that all year round I go shopping and I see things that I'd like. I think "oh wouldn't that be nice".
And I pass by it.

But whenever its my birthday or Christmas and people ask what I'd like, I can't think of ONE blinkin' thing.

Seriously, I've been racking my brains and I can't think of anything I need or want.
Maybe my problem is I'm just too blessed!
I have everything I need.

Wow! That just hit me when I typed it.
Really, I have no needs.
"My God will supply ALL my needs. He already did."

Man, am I blessed.
Now, all I NEED is breakfast! :)

Rebecca only slept for an hour at nap time.

When she got up, she was still tired and cranky.
She kept whining and crying about everything.

Finally, I got frustrated with her and said, "If you're gonna behave like this, you might as well just go back to bed."

Then you know what?
She did.

It was really quiet for about 20 minutes so I went upstairs to check on her.

She was fast asleep on her bed.

Is there a full moon or something today?
Na na na na na na na
*twilight zone theme song*

I wish there was some way to explain just how cute Isabella was this afternoon. Short of video tape, there's no way to share how hilarious she is but I'll try.

I took the girls to pizza hut for lunch. Isabella wanted pepperoni pizza, so she was trying to say that but it kept coming out "pizzaroni".

So she kept repeating "pizzaroni" and laughing her head off.
She'd say it and then had this killer belly laugh, eyes closed throwing her head back laughing. And she was doing it over and over again to make her self laugh.

She has the BEST sense of humor. Man how I laughed.

I'm back from the lake.
Another grand weekend.

This time it was hot enough to let the girls play on the beach.
Rebecca was actually wading in the lake! Yikes!
Its freezing but she didn't even notice.
She kept going in to fill up her bucket so she could make "coffee".

I think I should become "hostess of the lake".
I should stay at the lake all summer and have a rotating schedule of people out for two days at a time.

That way I'd have company and other moms have a place to stay near a lake that's NOT a tent. See its win-win!
(sorry for bashing the tent thing all you woodsy types, I just hate bugs and being cold, I'm not a roughing it kinda girl)

Then other moms could enjoy just hanging at the beach and chatting while our kids frolic. (Yes, I said frolic!)
It could be my ministry. The ministry entertainism.

My kids have a never-ending fascination with sand, its great.
I'm sure other kids are the same.

Hmmmmmm.....now I'm thinking about it.....

Some "cutisms" for the week out of the mouths of my adorable children:

Rebecca: "Mommy, can I have eggos for breakfast?"
Mommy: "Sure"
Rebecca: "Mom, you're the best good!"

After getting a rake with her shovel and pail set, Rebecca made this comment, "Look daddy! Its a grass cleaner!"

Both girls have been watching the Sound of Music lately. They LOVE it. So they've both been running through the back yard, yelling "I'm Maria! I'm Maria! I'm running late!"
(the scene at the beginning when she's late for prayers)

More S of M: Rebecca told Isabella in the car " I am Maria and you are Ee-Lee-sil-aa." (Liesel)

This morning at breakfast, they wanted lemons. So they sat there eating them with hilarious faces, Rebecca really ate hers and Isabella pretended to, saying "I love lenoms".

They are so much fun!

Here's my revelation for the middle of the night:

We're all mentally ill.

To different varying degrees, we believe things that are lies and live our lives according to warped beliefs and understandings about who we are.

SO tonight this is my public formum to break some of the lies that I believe about myself. (holy group therapy batman!)

- I'm not hideously fat and in need of losing 10 lbs to be lovable

- Being insecure doesn't make me a soft-hearted, "safe" person. Being broken by God has accomplished these things in me, but I don't need to hang on to insecurity to keep these characteristics, God is quite capable of making sure that happens

-Being busy is a NOT a measure of how important you are as a person. Sometimes its just doing too much and not knowing how to say "no" to people.
(which brings me to my next point)
-I can say "no" to people and still be lovable

-I am a GREAT mother. (not good, great) I'm doing the best I can and God's grace is big enough to cover my screw-ups.

So HOW ABOUT THEM APPLES???? I know this is all true RIGHT NOW, I'll let you know how I feel in the morning.

Sometimes I feel so blah because I haven't excerised in awhile.
(this time is was a long while)

So I go to the gym and give'r. (hee hee...give'r. Its a trailer park, red neck word...give'r....hee hee)

Yesterday morning, that's what I did. Ran and then hit the weights.

What's my point?

I hurt. Oh how I hurt.
Ouch.

I've been hit by the organizing bug.

I did a 5 week menu plan (with grocery lists).

I got the pantry re-organized.

I've gone through all the kid's clothes.
If its too small...gone.
If I don't like it....gone.

I got rid of a HUGE garbage bag full of clothes
and a bag of shoes too.

Then I got the storage room done.
Next is the office.

I'm on a roll! Look out!